Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 695 amends the Real Estate License Act to authorize the Texas Real Estate Commission to prescribe the content of core real estate courses and continuing education courses and increases the number of semester hours of core courses that must be completed by applicants for certain real estate licenses and for license renewal. The bill allows a commission employee to file a complaint and conduct an investigation of a licensee for failure to complete required education or failure to provide information in connection with an application to renew a license. The bill deletes provisions allowing renewal of a license after it has expired.

            House Bill 695 allows the commission to issue an inactive salesperson license to a person without a sponsoring broker. The bill increases fees for an application for a license examination and for a transcript evaluation and imposes a $20 fee for a request for a new license because of a change in certain information. The bill clarifies that acting as a real estate broker or salesperson or a residential rental locator without a license or registration is a Class A misdemeanor, specifies the penalty for continuing violation, and requires a collected penalty to be deposited in a recovery fund.

            The bill allows the commission to provide for the collection of assessments at different times and under different conditions in order to ensure the availability of a sufficient amount in a recovery fund, increases limits on certain payments from the real estate recovery fund, allows the commission to authorize a hearing examiner to conduct a hearing and enter a final decision related to a violation of provisions, and removes a provision that requires a person to show a judgment related to a license application that is not subject to a stay or discharge in bankruptcy.

            House Bill 695 takes effect September 1, 2001, except for provisions relating to changes in requirements for core real estate courses, which take effect January 1, 2002, and provisions relating to renewal of a real estate or professional inspector license, which apply only to a license that expires on or after December 31, 2001.